Currently most of my organizing energy is focused on climate change, which is inextricably tied up with militarism. Photo courtesy of Karen Marysdaughter.
“I have refused to pay taxes for war for 33 years now. It has been the defining decision of my adult life — one of the best decisions I have ever made. The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee was there when I made that decision, and has been a steady source of support ever since.”
— Karen Marysdaughter, Maine resident and activist
Thomas Gumbleton
“My work over four decades grew increasingly focused on changing the priorities of our government from being a leader in war to a leader of peace and justice. I know I share that conviction with you, and I honor the work of the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee in its support for people who take the step of reversing those priorities with their own money. We are in an age when we must actively oppose the violence that U.S. tax dollars promote with weapons around the world while stealing resources that could bring people out of poverty here at home. War tax refusal is an honest and bold response to the inequities of our day and a powerful way to show that we are not cowed by the unjust demands of our own government.”
— Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, retired
“One of the greatest tools we have in the world today is our money. Where do we spend it and invest it? I call money “green energy,” because where we plant it, it will grow! If we plant it in systems of oppression and violence, then that is what we will grow. However, if we plant our green energy in organizations, businesses, and people who are at work helping heal our world and planet, then we grow more beauty, connections, equity, and health. …At this time when many people are faced with investing in the war machine of the U.S. government (and I include the war on the planet in this), what better thing to do with our money than to redirect it and invest in the world we actually want to live in?”
“In 2009, when I was figuring out how to go from being a passive resister to an active resister, two WTR friends introduced me to NWTRCC. I consumed all of the information on the website to learn as much as I could about different tactics for resistance. In 2011, I moved from Maine to Philadelphia and was reconnected with NWTRCC as I decided I wanted to be more involved in a WTR community. Since then I’ve been privileged to meet many much more experienced WTRs at NWTRCC gatherings. Please join me in supporting this exceptional organization that has helped me, and many others, feel more confident in our choice to refuse to pay for war?”
— ari rosenberg
“War tax resistance is a critical part of building the movement of mass resistance of various forms that we need right now. After participating in the NWTRCC Gathering [Asheville, 2013], I am encouraging everyone to carefully consider it and to consider being part of a support community for those engaged in this form of resistance, whether or not you engage in it yourself.”
